People have me wrong about my attitudes toward Lubbock, Texas. I always speak favorably of Lubbock. I always enjoy going out there for a ballgame. But it’s not like I advocate vacationing there. It’s not like I’m claiming there are a million things to see or do.

I just enjoy going out there for a game, because it’s so different. It’s the South Plains, which are not the desert but aren’t far off. It’s got an old-West feel, not in terms of building decor, necessarily, just in terms of terrain and open spaces.

Case in point. Late Saturday evening, must have been about 7 p.m., the sun’s going down, and we look up out of the pressbox, and a horizontal strip of sunlight stretched across the big Overton Hotel, which sits 2-3 blocks east of Jones Stadium. The sunlight went beyond to, towards downtown Lubbock. Just a strange strip. Medium blue, the color of dusk, sat above and below the strip. A unique scene. Not sure that I’ve ever seen anything like it.